AuthorTopic: Family Trip to NE (Read 1408 times)

The Wife's nephew was graduating from West Point. Since I have always wanted to visit West Point I smelled a road trip.

Although "The Point" was not my kind of institution to attend I have always respected the military and the West Point Graduates. They have to be made different than me to survive the 4 years. Nephew is well rounded and finished well in his class. He will be a good officer to serve under.

Originally we were to go to MI to pick up my mother-in-law then go to Teddy Roosevelt's home before going to WP. Mother-in-law could not make it and TR's home was closed so we had some extra days.

This trip as many of ours do turned into a quest of sorts. I left the Dallas area late on a Friday afternoon with The Wife and special needs daughter as passengers aiming at Texarkana for our first stop. Then a 900+ mile attack on Roanoke, VA for the second night. Third night would be close to Groton, CT, so I could fulfill a long time desire to visit the USS Nautilus Museum. It was the first nuclear submarine. The tour of "The Boat" was not as complete as I wanted but they never are. It was a good stop and a good museum. The fellow who greeted us served on two different atomic subs in the early days. He gave us a very interesting introduction.

From there we headed to Poughkeepsie, NY where we would spend three nights and explore the area before the big production at West Point and party with relatives.

We visited FD Roosevelt's home and library, the famous artist Fredric Church's home (Olana), Eleanor Roosevelt's home, and did some sight seeing. We left many more things to visit next time. The Wife and I are both history buffs so we found these homes interesting and educational. I am not an art type of person but the Church home was great.

Yep, next was West Point with all of its history on Thursday with a tour before a Parade Day on Friday then graduation on Saturday. What a show the parade was! It was great to be there to watch as all of the cadets march onto "The Plain". We were all proud of Sam. Afterwards we walked all over WP. What a work out. Saturday was the big day with General Dempsey as the speaker. He was very informal and gave a very good short speech. I can't believe I am saying this but I very much enjoyed hearing him. He even sang a little. Good voice I might add. Sam graduated well in his class without ever having a demerit. He is not perfect but knows how follow rules.

So the next day after the pomp and circumstance we headed back north to work our way to Acadia National Park on the coast of Maine via the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire (NH112) with a stop at the LL Bean outlet in Conway. Acadia is the oldest park east of the Mississippi. It has an interesting history and very pretty. We only spent a day there but to do it justice 2 or 3 would be better.

I wanted to return to St. Albans, VT (I was there in September) to take The Wife to Chester A. Arthur's birthplace near there. However, we did a search and found it to be closed. I think it is open only two months in the summer and then only on weekends. I visited it back in 1975 during my single days on another one of my odysseys. This sort of thing never spoils our road trips so the Adirondacks it would be with two nights in Lake George.

My goal here was to show The Wife and daughter the beautiful Adirondacks and for me to go to the top of White Face Mountain. Also I wanted to take my daughter to the "North Pole" aka Santa's Workshop. I have tried to go up White face twice before. Once in the 50s around age 6 or 7 but my uncle's car was overheating and then again last September on my motorcycle but it was too foggy. I went to Santa's Workshop back in the 50s so I wanted to take my daughter this trip. No luck both were closed. I was very disappointed but we continued to enjoy the surroundings.

The next day we would head back home. Martin Van Buren's home was on the way. We had missed it earlier in our trip. So why not. I did not know anything to speak of about this president. Yes, he was our 8th President. He is known for the panic of 1837. He inherited it but got the credit. Funny, its causes were very similar to 1929 and our most recent recession. Think we would learn? I was surprised to find out how influential Van Buren was in his day and even after his death by shaping future events. This was a very good learning experience for me who thought I knew about presidents.

From here we basically hauled butt towards home. We were all tired but I was the driver. I pushed the "crew" at each stop so we could get home at a reasonable time Saturday. We spent two nights on the road but made our goal to arrive home before dark on Saturday, which we did, so The Wife could have a day of rest before I sent her off to work Monday. I am retired so someone has to work.

5,542 miles, 15 states, 16 days. I'll be ready to road trip again in a few days but duties at home will delay that.

- I've always marveled at the architecture at West Point. Especially the stone buildings that you drive under about 1/3 of the way through the base from the front gate. Some decent views of the Hudson too. When I was still active duty (and before they privatized the lodging), I'd often night over at the West Point Inn on my trips up to Vermont.

- Somewhat surprised that you stopped at the L.L.Bean outlet in Conway instead of opting for their flagship store in Freeport, ME. It wouldn't have been much of a stretch to get from the Kancamagus to Freeport then continue on to Arcadia.